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Macros, tips, and templates for Corel® WordPerfect® for Windows®
© Copyright 1996-2024 by Barry MacDonnell. All Rights Reserved.

About that optional WordPerfect 9 Text Selection setting . . .

A new option introduced by Corel® in WordPerfect 10 (c. 2001) — and still present in all later versions —

In WordPerfect 10 or later version click on Tools, Settings, Environment. You'll see this check box option:

    □ Use WordPerfect 9 text selection [abbreviated here as "WP9TSS"]

If you have left that WP9TSS box unchecked ("OFF") — which is the WordPerfect installation default — then WordPerfect 10 and later versions will treat text selection and cursor movement somewhat the way Microsoft Word does. (Examples below.)

Presumably this was introduced to address a "Microsoft compatibility" issue. But it has a serious side effect with macros:

The default WP9TSS setting ("OFF") can alter the way some WordPerfect macros behave — no matter who created them! — producing unexpected effects or even incorrect results. And you might not even notice because some effects can be subtle.

To compensate for this you might need to add some code snippets to "legacy" macros (WP9, WP8, etc.) as well as to some newer (WP10+) macros. (Sample compensation code can be found below.)

Some examples illustrate the way WP10-WPX9 (and probably future versions) will select words and some format codes if you leave WP9TSS unchecked (i.e., OFF, which is the factory default state).

Example 1

If you use your mouse or keyboard to select a word to be underlined, you'll notice that WP10+ will also underline the trailing space after the word, like this . (The same thing happens to selected words that are bolded, italicized, redlined, etc.)

This is how many WordPerfect 10 users first discovered the existence of the new, poorly documented and unannounced WP9TSS.

Note that underlining spaces is primarily controlled in WordPerfect by the "Text & Spaces" setting in Format, Font, Underline [tab]. If Text & Spaces is enabled, you'll get underlined spaces, which is preferred by most people -- except for trailing spaces, which is generally not desirable.

Example 2

The following demonstration macro was posted on the Corel WordPerfect 10 newsgroup on 8/17/2001. It is supposed to convert the selected word to a word with initial capitalization. One of the C_Techs confirmed that the macro works properly with the WP9TSS turned ON; otherwise it fails to work properly and apparently converts the following word, too!

Application (WordPerfect; "WordPerfect"; Default!; "EN")
SelectWordNext ()
ConvertCaseInitialCaps ()
SelectMode (State: Off!)

While these two examples may seem trivial, the presence of extra spaces in some macros can produce completely different results when the macro plays. And you might not even notice it. (Your client or boss might, though.)

Update (5/28/08)

There appears to be an undesirable interaction between this new feature and the Tools, QuickWords option, "Expand as plain text." See Footnote 2 below.

With respect to certain cursor movements, Charles Rossiter, a C_Tech, wrote in the Corel WordPerfect 10 newsgroup:

"...Try doing Ctrl+Right Arrow [in WP10] towards the end of a paragraph. With WP9 Text selection [turned on to emulate WP9 and earlier versions], the cursor jumps from word to word, even over the paragraph break. Without WP9 text selection, at the paragraph break, the cursor jumps to the end of the line, and then after the next hard return and then to the start of the next paragraph....This has severe effects on any macros which use [the] PosWordNext [command]...."

Imagine a macro, for example, that must count words (say, by moving the cursor with the PosWordNext command and incrementing a counter variable). Maybe the count is meant to keep document or section size within certain limits, or maybe it's to position the cursor at a certain spot before other processing can occur.

With the WP9TSS checked ON in WP10, only words are counted. With it OFF (the program default), it appears from reports that it will count the end of the paragraph, the next hard return, and then begin counting again in the next paragraph.

In this imaginary example, the OFF setting will affect the count because an accurate count with this macro depends on how the cursor moves over a specific block of text. Paragraph endings and hard return codes are not normally considered to be words.

Any macros written in a version prior to WordPerfect 10 that are to be used in WP10-WPX6+, and that use the very common commands of -

PosWordNext PosWordPrevious PosParagraphNext PosParagraphPrevious

SelectWord SelectWordNext SelectWordPrevious SelectSentence SelectSentenceNext SelectSentencePrevious SelectParagraphNext SelectParagraphPrevious SelectLineEnd

(...and possibly...) DeleteWord SelectOn SelectOff

- should have correction/compensation code added to them (see sample snippet below).

Also, the above may not be a comprehensive list: There may be other, similar commands that should be added. (If you have found any, please contact me; the good news is that I have not yet received any reports of other commands that should be added to the list.)

Here, proper operation means the macro operation you personally expect with the new "Use WP9 text selection" switch enabled (i.e., "on"). See below for the types of effects you might find with your legacy and newly written macros.

Playing a LEGACY MACRO in WordPerfect 10 - X6 (and possibly later versions)
WP9TSS "on" during macro play	WP9TSS "off" (the shipping default)
The macro should play OK (WP10-WPX6+ should act like WP9, WP8, etc.).	The macro may have problems if the above-mentioned commands are present, especially if the code was written with their specific (pre-WP10) actions in mind; corrections are highly recommended to ensure the macro plays in WP10+ the same way it was recorded/written.

Either of the sample code snippets at the bottom of this page can be added to all legacy macros as a simple precaution. Since they won't execute in a version other than WP10 due to embedded IfPlatform() commands, any legacy macro that has them can be used in both the original, earlier version of WP and in WP10-WPX6+. In effect, the legacy macro will become "WP10-WPX6+ aware."

Any newer (WP10+) macros should be examined to see if they are working as expected in WP10+ under the two possible states (ON and OFF) of the WP9TSS. Obviously the initial state of the WP9TSS when the macro was first written or recorded can be later changed to the opposite state by any user, thereby inadvertently modifying the macro's behavior. This can produce unpredictable results, whether obvious or not, with macros that contain the above commands. (And I am not certain if any other macro commands are affected!) Here are some logical possible results of playing a macro in WP10-WPX6+ that was written in a previous verion of WP or one that was written in WP10-WPX6+ itself:

Playing a NEWLY WRITTEN MACRO in WordPerfect 10 - X6 (and possibly later versions)
WP9TSS "on" during macro play		WP9TSS "off" during macro play*
If WP9TSS was "on" during macro's creation:	If WP9TSS was "off" during macro's creation:	If WP9TSS was "on" during macro's creation:	If WP9TSS was "off" during macro's creation:
The macro should play OK (same conditions, same WP version).	The macro may have problems if the above- mentioned commands are present, especially if the code was written with their specific actions in mind; the code should be examined to see if corrections are required (the writer may like the way the new text selection and cursor movement methods work, and setting the WP9TSS to "on" may be undesirable).	The macro may have problems if the above- mentioned commands are present, especially if the code was written with their specific actions in mind; corrections are highly recommended to ensure the macro plays the same way it was recorded/written.	The macro either plays OK (same conditions, same WP version) or it doesn't (e.g., if it uses a word count routine that uses one of the above cursor-positioning commands the count could be wrong if, say, hard returns between paragraphs are also counted); the code should be examined to see if correction routines are required (the writer may like the way the new text selection and cursor movement methods work, and no correction may be desirable).

Such macros are strong candidates for correction code, such as that found below, to force them to behave as they would have behaved in WP9 and earlier. Assuming, of course, that this was the intent of the writer of the new WP10-WPX6+ macros -- a very important point to consider. (The author may want to rewrite all or part of the macro code to make it perform predictably.)

To put it another way, if you include these correction code snippets in a macro, you are tacitly assuming that you want the macro to employ the legacy-standard method of selecting words (i.e., to NOT include any following space), moving the cursor (i.e., to NOT stop at the end of the line, at the paragraph break, etc.), and so forth.

---
* "Off" is the Corel factory-shipped default.

// Note the use of IfPlatform..EndIfPlatform. These commands might need
// to be modified for future WordPerfect versions (an exception can be crafted
// using a modified snippet of code found in Footnote 3 below).
// Note WP10 did not have the ?WP9Selection command; see Footnote 1 below.

Procedure SetWP9SelectionState(cmd)
IfPlatform(_Version10!)
 If(cmd like "On")
   vWP9StateKey="Software\Corel\Shared Settings\"+?MajorVersion
   hRegKey=RegistryOpenKey(CurrentUser!; vWP9StateKey)
   If(hRegKey=0)
     MessageBox(;"Error: Open Registry!";vWP9StateKey; IconExclamation!)
     Return
   EndIf
   vWP9State=RegistryQueryValue(hRegKey;"Use WordPerfect 9 style selection")
   RegistryCloseKey(hRegKey)
   PrefEnvironment(WP9Selection: On!)
 Else
   PrefEnvironment(WP9Selection: vWP9State)
 EndIf

ElseIfPlatform(_Version11!;_Version12!;_Version13!;_Version14!;_Version15!;_Version16!;
_Version17!;_Version18!;_Version19!;_Version20!;_Version21!;_Version22!;_Version23!;
_Version24!;_Version25!)

 If(cmd like "On")
   vWP9State=?WP9Selection  // (?WP9Selection introduced in WP11)
   PrefEnvironment(WP9Selection: On!)
 Else
   PrefEnvironment(WP9Selection: vWP9State)
 EndIf
EndIfPlatform
EndProc

If you include the code snippets above in a newly written WP11 (and later version) macro you are tacitly assuming that you want the macro to employ the legacy-standard method of selecting words (i.e., to NOT include any following space), moving the cursor (i.e., to NOT stop at the end of the line, at the paragraph break, etc.), and so forth.

If you don't use these snippets and you write the WP11+ macro by recording text selections and cursor movements, the macro will naturally behave in the manner dictated by the then-current "Use WP9 text selection" setting in Tools, Settings, Environment. Later, if the user changes this setting, the macro could produce erroneous results (whether obvious or not).

There are several issues to confront here:

Messagebox ( ; "WP9 text selection state (T/F)" ; ?WP9Selection)

1. Delete the problem QuickWord(s).
2. Enable "Use WordPerfect 9 text selection" in Tools, Settings, Environment.
3. Reboot WordPerfect (optional, but can't hurt) and create the QuickWord(s) again.

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